TikTok has changed the fandom world, and there are fandoms for a lot of niche content, such as video games and singers. Because of the rise, fandoms have started to revive viewership of older projects by using social media.
In 2023, users on TikTok revived “Ugly Betty” after it was added to Netflix Aug. 1. Two weeks after this, the show had 5.5 million views on TikTok. The show’s availability on Netflix allowed people to revamp the fandom through social media.
Accounts were able to post a slightly shorter than three minutes clip, to avoid copyright laws. Viewers also paid more attention to what they were watching due to a shorter attention span, resulting in multiple clips being seen by viewers for the first time. With it also being psychologically proven it is easier for us to keep watching than to stop, viewers felt more inclined to watch more episodes.
“Ugly Betty” is not the only show with a fandom revival through TikTok. “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Suits,” “South Park,” “9-1-1” and “Bluey” all gained unreasonably large amounts of views because of social media. Fans have also posted clips from “The Simpsons,” “30 Rock,” “Euphoria” and “Veep.”
The resurgence of television shows is not limited to current ones, as older shows like “M.A.S.H.” have been brought back as well.
Due to this success, streaming services have been using the social media method to promote new shows. Hulu, Netflix, Max, Peacock and Starz have been posting their most popular shows on TikTok to promote them and get new viewers interested. Netflix even posted an entire episode of its show “Top Boy” on TikTok split up into parts.
TikTok has also become a route for fans to discuss parts of shows they would like to have been different. In the 1970s, “Star Trek” was revived due to a letter campaign. Now, fans can use the internet.
Fans of “Game of Thrones” thought Season 8 was so bad that 1.8 million people signed a petition to rewrite the entire season. Another one was made to get David Benioff and D.B. Weiss off a planned Star Wars project.
Fandoms are not always able to get their way with online disputes but have had a few successes. After the “Sonic the Hedgehog” trailer was released in 2020, fans were creeped out by the animation of Sonic so much that he was reanimated before the movie came out.
These fandoms on TikTok have started to go too far regarding celebrities in addition to television. Chappell Roan has spoken about the lack of privacy she has been getting.
“Celebrity culture is weird. I think it’s really bizarre and really unhealthy,” she told The Washington Post.
There have been creepy comments on TikTok and stalking both her friends and the artist herself. Roan said she has been concerned about her lack of privacy, and TikTok fandoms have contributed greatly to that. She has been affected by crazy fans trying to get what they want through social media.
Social media has been able to act as a place to watch shows and build communities around them, both old and new. TikTok is a way to share media with larger audiences. Even though it is not the normal way we have always watched TV, it could become the new way we do.
